(she/her)
My name is Lizzy and I am a clinical social worker based in San Diego but origially from the bay area. I have experience working with children, teens, and adults coping with anxiety, trauma, and gender dysphoria. I have worked in school, community and hospital-based settings I am strength based, client centered and use a social justice framework, and am affirming to the LGBTQIA+ community.
In your first session we gather information about your current areas of concern and goals for therapy. We will also assess circumstances contributing to distress and engage in a safety risk assessment.
I make complex therapeutic skills understandable and digestible. I am trained in evidenced based approaches related to anxiety, OCD, gender affirming care, and trauma. I am down to earth, warm, and use humor in therapy. I love music, art, roller skating and tailor therapy to your interests/culture. I don’t prescribe a one size fits all approach and feel it is imperative to acknowledge systems such as inequality, racism, limited access to resources, and discrimination that contribute to mental healh symptoms and distress.
I am eager to work with clients that are motivated to work on anxiety, gender dysphoria, and trauma based symptoms. My ideal client engaging in exposure response prevention (ERP) is eager to identify core fears related to anxiety and engage in exposures. My ideal client working on gender dysphoria and trauma, expresse willingness to try skills that promote feelings of safety and motivation to connect to community supports such as a support group.
Other specialties
I identify as
Cash - $170 per session
Aetna
Aetna - Allied Benefits
Aetna - ASR Health Benefits
Aetna - Luminare
Aetna - Moda
Aetna - WebTPA
Aetna – HealthEZ
All Savers
Amerihealth Administrators
Arlo
AvMed
Blue Shield
Blue Shield of California - Medi-Cal
Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan (Medi-Cal)
Carelon Behavioral Health (Commercial)
Centivo
Cigna
Cigna - HealthEZ
EAP:UnitedHealthcare/Optum
Evernorth
Gold Coast Health Plan (Medi-Cal)
Golden Rule
Harvard Pilgrim/UnitedHealthcare
Health Plan of San Joaquin/Mountain Valley Health Plan – Medi-Cal
IHSS Healthy Workers
L.A. Care Covered
L.A. Care Covered Direct
L.A. Care Health Plan (Medi-Cal)
L.A. Care PASC-SEIU
Optum
OptumHealth Complex Medical Conditions
Oscar
Oxford
Partnership HealthPlan of California (Medi-Cal)
San Francisco Health Plan (Medi-Cal)
Santa Clara Family Health Plan - Medi-Cal
Scripps Health Plan
Sharp Health Plan
Surest (formerly Bind)
Sutter Health Plan
Tufts Health/Cigna
United Medical Resources
UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance
UnitedHealthcare Shared Services
UnitedHealthcare StudentResources
UnitedHealthcare/Optum
Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)
I was trained in ERP at a day treatment center designed for individuals with anxiety and OCD in San Diego County. Exposure response prevention is a faucet of CBT used to treat anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In ERP, we work together to identify core fears related to your anxiety then gradually face fears through exposures. For example, if you have a fear of public speaking you will engage in various exercises that illicit that fear such as making eye contact with strangers, speaking to a supportive group, speaking to a larger group, then making a presentation to strangers. ERP helps rewire your brain and alleviates anxiety through experiences.
Gender-affirming therapy
I have a certificate in Affirming Approaches for Transgender Individuals and Communities from Widener University. I support individuals in exploring gender identity and expression in a nonjudgmental environment. We learn ways to cope with challenging societal expectations related to masculinity and femineity and celebrate your gender identity/expression
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
I was trained in CPT therapy while working at an intensive outpatient program for active duty, veterans, and civilians coping with PTSD. Cognitive Processing therapy is a CBT modality used to treat trauma. In therapy we work together to identify the story you are telling yourself about your trauma that keeps you stuck in PTSD symptoms. The goal of CPT is to identify and challenge stuck points and create more balance views on traumatic experiences.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
I work with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and use a social justice framework. I am strengths based, client centered and build an affirming environment for individuals from the LGBTQIA community and communities of color. I strive to acknowledge systems in place that lead to distress and won't give you generic treatment interventions that ignore systematic contributors to suffering such as inequality, discrimination, or limited access to care.
1 rating with written reviews
December 22, 2025
Lizzy knows how to balance compassion with challenge. I appreciate her ability to tow a very difficult line. She's really good at her work <3